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Jon Meddings

@jmeddings.bsky.social
2.7K followers 335 following 290 posts

Past Dean, Cumming School of Medicine; Gastroenterologist, Avid photographer in no particular order. Opinions are mine.

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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Tepid. Great adjective for our AB government. They are tepid.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
It really does seem as though there are a multitude of connections between this company, ASG and our government. Good for AHS for trying to clarify what was in the public interest. For government to fire the CEO and stop that investigation seems.... 'odd'... and self protective.
thetyee.ca
Mraiche Profited from Quick Sale of Property to UCP Government | The Tyee
The multimillionaire under scrutiny for lucrative Alberta Health Services dealings made $300,000 on land he owned just three months.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Perhaps I'm too lost in this but I am shocked (and dismayed) by the lack of incredibly strong opposition to this. There is a massive COI here. Nobody should be letting government get away with this.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Yes - they ordered the takeover of CSF procurement by government and for AHS to cease and desist in checking the CSF pricing structures....
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Absolutely. And worth noting that in October 2024 the AB government took over sole procurement of CSF's from AHS. And the allegged corruption? The procurement of CSF's of course...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
If true, I don't think I've seen anything worse in AB healthcare. It also underscores the point that private care cannot compete with public unless it is given a leg up. For the sake of all of us we should be using these $ to make the public system better.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
This is an excellent op-ed about the AB pandemic report from two people who really know. "Some statements in the report don’t hold up to a basic reality check." All true. This report should be withdrawn.
theglobeandmail.com
Albertans deserved a post-pandemic review. Instead, they got misinformation cloaked in science
The Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force report is littered with anti-science talking points, many already debunked by fact-checkers
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Well... I guess... If at first you don't succeed...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Not surprisingly, I completely support these goals. A short thread (can't help myself). I recall many years ago advocating for a national physician supply and demand database with Geny and the AFMC to run and use this data. AFMC are the combined medical schools. /1
cma.ca
Ground-breaking new report reveals Canada can’t train enough doctors and other health professionals. Unless we dramatically change how we do things.
As the health ministers met in Halifax over the past few days, the federal government released the first detailed report on the gaps in the health care workforce and the data lays bare the extent of t...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
A warning about declining healthcare from the AMA. Once again nothing from government. The major problem with AB healthcare? Lack of Access. Lack of healthcare workers. Not poor organization....
edmontonjournal.com
Thousands of women and babies at risk from OBGYN shortages: Alberta doctors
“The outcomes in these pregnancies can be substantially worsened by anybody with medical comorbidities."
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Nice, short article about the shortcomings of the AB covid report. In a first year university class it would get a failing grade. Perhaps that's why we see so few degrees in our cabinet?
edmontonsun.com
‘Bad science’: Academics tear apart Alberta’s $2-million report on COVID
“We've given literally billions of doses of this vaccine around the world with the best surveillance we've ever had."
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
It is interesting how the 'Trump Threats' break into those with immediate problems and some like this with a longer time horizon. Public health does not easily stay colored in between map borders. For the safety of us all we need organizations like WHO.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
This is an interesting article. Common sense I guess. However, it is hard to think of a more compelling point to prove that the AB healthcare system has failed. Like abandoning a sinking ship - look after the sickest.....
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Can I agree with this 200%? Long term the quality of life in Canada is going to be about the quality of people we have here. This is a golden opportunity to recruit some outstanding people to Canada. Recruitment always takes a push and a pull. Trump has helped us by giving the push.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I'm going to use this reply as a stepping stone to something I think we need to do less of. While my leanings are similar to this poster I actually think that this is just as much of a problem as what 'we' complain about. Hear me out please. /1
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
This is worrisome. Having the US pull out of WHO is a major setback for world public health (including the US). This, at a time of increased zoonotic disease risk puts us all in peril. Imagine H5N1 in a world with reduced PH capacity. The rest of world needs to step up.
bmj.com
The US withdrawal from the WHO: a global health crisis in the making
In a major blow to global health, the US administration has announced plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization. Kent Buse and colleagues propose urgent actions for the international commun...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Forgive me for being cynical here. I truly understand that sometimes job cuts can be part of a reorganization that increases work output. But the history of Canadian healthcare is government rationing healthcare in an ill-guided attempt to reduce cost. Delayed care is more expensive care.
cbc.ca
Quebec cuts 1,000 health-care jobs in a month as it tackles deficit | CBC News
Announcements of job cuts in the health network have multiplied in recent weeks as Quebec tries to eliminate a $1.5 billion deficit in the public health-care system.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Medical misinformation is a societal threat. We should treat it accordingly. Good editorial from the Lancet.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I just attended a talk (by a real expert) on water insecurity in southern AB. To hear that the headwater glaciers of the Bow (Bow and Peyto) are likely to be gone in 10 years makes you sit up and think. We. Can't. Afford. This. Government.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
It will be interesting to see the gov decision on this. Let me just say that in all areas of medicine, prevention is far cheaper than treatment. Vaccines prevent incredible costs in the acute care system. This should be a no-brainer. But I guess, therein lies the rub...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
This is a really important perspective on our healthcare system and how it compares to peers. Key findings: 1) Quality is good. 2) Access is poor 3) Affordability is poor -we have too much private pay for the system to be equitable. /1
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
A fascinating read. Declining life expectancy for many complex reasons. However, one that shines through is the ineffectiveness of public health measures over the last 20 years. Is that a surprise when health is considered a personal responsibility and to be paid for privately?
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Very important post here. In Canada we have 2 problems: 1. Not enough MD's 2. Not enough family MD's Medical students choose their specialty at the end of med school. They currently could all go into family medicine if they wanted and that would leave us only with a specialty problem. /1
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
A very good analysis here. In my post on the other site I missed talking about the virtual care provisions.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
For a change. Astrophotography. Calgary has had almost complete clouds for 2 months. I've been working on a 6 panel mosaic of the Heart and Soul nebula in the northern skies. Here is the data so far - I think I'll collect a little more.'
This is a narrowband image of 2 nebula in the northern sky taken from a city and light polluted location
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
@djclimenhaga.bsky.social gets it quite right. The UCP should look in the mirror. They keep fishing for the 'right' leader to do the right things - why don't they do them themselves? It's not as if a whole bunch of people haven't pointed out what the right things are. Just do it...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
These are the chickens coming home to roost. For 30 years demography has predicted a tidal wave of people needing healthcare. For 30 years governments have been playing a delay and ignore game. "We can get away with fewer HCW's - technology, lower taxes ...". The chickens have returned.
winnipegfreepress.com
‘Worst holiday season I’ve ever seen,’ shell-shocked Winnipeg ER doc says
Winnipeg hospital emergency departments were overcrowded and staff were overwhelmed during the holidays, people working on the front lines say. “This is the worst holiday season I’ve ever seen,” Grace...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Interesting story here. Many levels. A short thread about one of them. In brief, there is (yet another) crisis in trying to keep hospital ER's open in Canada (SK here). The proximate cause is a shortage of MD's to staff them. Something we've discussed. /1
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
This is an interesting approach and one worth thinking about. A few thoughts. Clearly the goal of this is to make medical practice more enticing to new young physicians. Will it work? We had some friends over for dinner last night and spoke about this a bit. /1
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
As they say - necessary but not sufficient. Nothing will improve without the MD's and that is what this helps. In addition we need: 1. Teams - funded by prov 2. MD accountability to the system 3. More beds 4. A common EHR platform Let's not stop here.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Gives me chills. I can imagine this happening next in Alberta. Similar politics, heavily agricultural and a virulent case of anti-science.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Interesting. With the rapidly changing picture of H5N1 now is the time to seriously look at vaccines. Traditional ones are made in eggs which are likely to be in short supply with 'bird flu'. Makes this mRNA candidate all the more compelling.
fiercebiotech.com
mRNA vaccine from CDC and Moderna protects ferrets from current avian influenza strain
As human cases of avian influenza slowly tick up amid the outbreak in U.S. | As human cases of avian influenza slowly tick up amid the outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle, the Centers for Disease Control an...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Abject failure. Prioritizing industry and economic concerns over public health. That sure seems familiar to me....
kffhealthnews.org
How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic - KFF Health News
Exclusive reporting reveals how the United States lost track of a virus that could cause the next pandemic. Problems like the sluggish pace of federal action, a deference to industry, and neglect for ...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Critically important. We need a health system with easily accessible data for *all* patients. You'd think this would be simple to do these days. Its not. Why? Largely private health companies and government afraid to legislate it.
calgaryherald.com
Opinion: Health data needs to be connected and governments made accountable
Achieving effective health data interoperability will require major effort across many organizations and will take quite a few years.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Merry Xmas! To family MD's in AB. This is heartfelt from me but also government appears to be stepping up. Lets see what exactly is in this later today but it sounds good so far. Just don't understand what took so long....
calgaryherald.com
Braid: Finally, the UCP comes up with new pay system to save family doctor practices
Braid: The UCP and Alberta Medical Association have been squabbling for months over a new pay system for family doctors. It's finally here.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Instead the US might like to be the 11th province? They'd save massively on healthcare. And no more school (or CEO) shootings... Trump could be premier....
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
An interesting thought exercise. The old saying - "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity" springs to my mind. There are players who want more private care. I suspect politicians just want to pay less and have been seduced by them. Instead they should listen to experts.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
This is correct. It is one of the answers to our healthcare system. What we need: 1. Family MD/team for all 2. Increases acute care beds (helps fix ER) 3. Integrated provincial waitlists and surgical access 4. Integrated information systems across all providers 5. Access, access, access
dailyheraldtribune.com
A family physician for every Albertan: Dismantling healthcare not the answer
Alberta needs an action plan to provide primary healthcare for everyone
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Excellent points @ritamc.bsky.social! Folks, in our current shortage of MD's (many types) we have vested interests trying to come up with "innovative" solutions. While I'm a fan of innovation, most of these are not that. They simply increase the bottom line of the vested interests.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
What a wonderful post from a PV expert. It is just *so* nice to read the thoughts of actual experts. Thank you @angierasmussen.bsky.social
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Such a good thread. Please read it. When I think back on those (recent) times, my mind goes to the deep, visceral fear that we were going to run out of ICU beds during delta. To the abuse suffered by frontline workers trying to save lives. Not to whether you could attend a hockey game...
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Interesting. A 'freedom' score for countries. Defined as the absence of coercive restraint. Out of 165 countries Canada ranks #11, better than the US and UK at 17. Perhaps someone could mention this to the UCP and our #Ditchbillies? www.cato.org/human-freedo...
Human freedom index for top 15 countries. Canada ranks 11
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Trump: 'What do you have to lose? Take it.' Turns out you have a lot to lose by not listening to experts. In 2020 prior to C-19 vaccines we had a lot of people dying from Covid. Not a lot of treatment options. From some basic biology it was suggested that HQC could be useful. /1
thehill.com
Nearly 17,000 people may have died from hydroxychloroquine: study
Nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died because they took hydroxychloroquine (HQC) during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, according to a new analysis published by French researc…
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Too put this even more starkly. Our government can find $29M to patrol the AB/US border (for 3 lb of fentanyl). But they can't find 1% of this amount to alleviate the suffering of 2500 Albertans. Every year.... Our priorities are misplaced.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Fascinating article regarding the AB governments mismanagement of healthcare. A short thread to explain some of the complexities here. First. Is it a problem? Well, yes it is. Hip and Knee replacements are common and a solve a source of misery for many. We need to do more. /1
cbc.ca
Alberta health authority rejected $240K proposal to resolve orthopedic surgery disruption, documents show | CBC News
A proposed solution, offered about one month after resident physicians stopped providing on-call support at an Edmonton hospital, was turned down because it wasn't 'cost neutral,' documents say.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Demography strikes Cdn healthcare again. The best time to have acted on this was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
montrealgazette.com
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
We. Don't. Need. This. Right. Now.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
The alt med 'industry' has been larger than the medical one for some time now. The hysterical cry of "being in big pharma's pocket" is typically projection at its finest. (In a few, rare, cases it has been true.) Those profiting the most are now being put in positions of influence.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
We don't always get what the UK does. However, we often see it several weeks later in AB. I'm sure our government has been preparing things by opening up beds and encouraging vaccination holiday messages. We wouldn't want to walk into this with our eyes closed would we?
bbc.com
Hospitals hit by 'tidal wave' of winter viruses
NHS England say sharp rise in flu cases is causing real concern.
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Jon Meddings @jmeddings.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Of course the frustration of many of us, who cry into the abyss, is that this was clearly enunciated decades ago. Healthcare demand is dictated by demography. It's not as if we didn't know that a 'grey wave' was coming was it? Governments have been rewarded for deferring costs to the next...
ctvnews.ca
Health-care costs will rise significantly as population ages, says new report
A new report says Canada needs to rethink its approach to health care to help manage rising costs as people age.
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